TWO soldiers suspected of killing an innocent schoolgirl and an unarmed man in Derry at the height of the Troubles will not face prosecution.
Annette McGavigan, 14, was shot dead during rioting in the Bogside area on September 6, 1971.
William McGreanery, 41, died in the early hours of September 15 in an incident where a soldier opened fire from an Army lookout at a junctions in the city.
The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has confirmed it will not prosecute the two soldiers, known as Soldier A and Soldier B, over the deaths as they have “insufficient evidence”.
Confirming their decision, PPS Assistant Director Martin Hardy said: “We have carefully considered all the evidence reported in connection with both cases.
“The standard of proof needed for a criminal prosecution is high,” he added, before confirming that both cases “were individually considered by two experienced prosecution teams”.
He added: “It has been determined that the available evidence in both cases is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction.
“Both cases featured significant evidential difficulties arising from the circumstances in which accounts were taken and recorded, both by the Royal Military Police in 1971, and later by the PSNI’s Historical Enquiries Team.
“In addition, the death of significant witnesses and a failure to conduct effective investigations at the time has undoubtedly hampered more recent investigative efforts and the prosecutorial prospects in these cases.”
Prosecutors went on to explain that in Mr McGreanery’s case they were “satisfied that the available evidence was capable of proving that Mr McGreanery was unarmed and presented no threat to any soldier” but added that “the admissible evidence was insufficient to prove that the reported suspect was the soldier known as Soldier A who was responsible for causing Mr McGreanery’s death”.
In the case of Ms McGavigan, who the PPS confirmed was “entirely innocent”, they stated that “prosecutors could not prove that the reported suspect fired the shots that killed the teenager”.
“It also could not be disproved that the shots may have been aimed at a gunman that some witnesses reported seeing, and were therefore fired in lawful self-defence,” they added.
Mr Hardy confirmed that the PPS had written to the victims of both families to share the “deeply disappointing” news.
“We recognise that these decisions not to prosecute will be deeply disappointing to the victims’ families who lost their loved one in very painful circumstances and are understandably still seeking clarity on what happened,” Mr Hardy said.
“We have today written to them to explain the detailed reasons for the decisions and have offered meetings to give any further explanation they may require about the basis of these decisions.”
He added: “As difficult as these outcomes will be for the families of those killed, we have offered assurances that we have taken these decisions only after a thorough and impartial consideration of all the available evidence and relevant legal issues and in line with the Code for Prosecutors.”